Jonathan Wright, the first African-American on a State Supreme Court


Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I laud Jonathan Wright, born near Scranton, February 11th 1840. Law studies followed graduation from a local college. He attended a National Convention of Colored Men, chaired by Frederick Douglass. April 1865, the American Missionary Society hired him to teach emancipated slaves in Beaufort, South Carolina. A year later, the Freedmen's Bureau hired him as a legal advisor.

July 1868, Wright was elected delegate to a state constitutional convention. He wrote its judiciary section and championed the provision for free public schools. That autumn, the young Republican won a state senate seat.

February 1870, legislators elected Wright to the supreme court. Democrats forced him out of office in 1877. While teaching law in Charleston, he died at age forty-five.

Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see www.grandoldpartisan.com. 

Here is a YouTube Video about this article.

Here is a TikTok Video about this article.

Here is an Instagram Video about this article.

Here is my Substack about this article.

Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.


Each day, his YouTube videos and TikTok videos and Rumble videos and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Your book is a national treasure. I'm always recommending it."

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"

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